The xmmspipe plugin allows control of XMMS by sending strings to a named pipe, creating a seamless audio experience.
Version 0.5.0 introduced the ability to establish an output pipe and query XMMS for information. For example, typing "report title" in the input pipe prints the current song's title on the output pipe.
The package includes a demo program called "fade" that illustrates how to use the plugin to fade the current song and proceed to the next one. For this to work, the output pipe must be enabled via the Config window.
While Infopipe plugin works differently from XMMSPipe, the latter plugin remains relevant because pipes are often preferable in certain situations. Pipes automatically inherit the security features of the underlying filesystem, such as the ability to limit pipe control to specific users. Moreover, writing to a pipe is easier in many programming languages than executing programs, making it simpler to develop programs to control XMMS.
XMMSPipe can call internal XMMS functions, enabling it to perform additional actions beyond those possible with xmms_remote_* functions alone, such as loading/saving playlists.
In conclusion, XMMSPipe facilitates flexibility, allowing for an arbitrary GUI and external playlist management. Simplifying the code by exclusively using pipes for interfacing, like gkrellm works with /proc files, would also make it more efficient.
The most recent release of XMMSPipe (version 0.5.0) adds support for the playlist_move command, thanks to code contributed by Graeme Yeo.
Version 0.5.5: N/A